The Books That Are Teaching Me How to Slow Down
Somewhere between deadlines, screens, and constant stimulation, reading became less about productivity and more about permission. Permission to slow down. To sit with a thought longer than a caption. To let language stretch.
This year, I’m returning to books not as an escape — but as a grounding practice.
I used to think reading needed to be efficient — that it required an outcome. If I wasn’t highlighting passages or finishing chapters in one sitting, I was doing it wrong. Now, I’m letting books exist as they’re meant to: open on my coffee table, dog-eared, revisited. Some days I read ten pages. Some days I reread one sentence five times. That’s enough.
The books I’m drawn to lately live somewhere between fashion, culture, and introspection. They’re observational, not instructional — less about how to live, more about how someone once did. Reading has become a way to sharpen my language again, to better articulate taste, identity, and emotion in a world that moves too fast. It’s a reminder that good ideas don’t rush. They unfold. And choosing to read slowly now feels quietly radical.
5 Books We’re Recommending (Because Group Chats Can’t Raise You)
1. Influence by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Why: It’s not a memoir, it’s a mood. Proof that you can say very little, mean everything, and still change culture. Read this if you’re allergic to oversharing but deeply committed to taste. Shop here.
2. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Why: Every girl needs at least one book that makes her say, “Wait… is it me?” A classic for feeling too much, thinking too hard, and realizing you’re not alone in it. Shop here.
3. Just Kids by Patti Smith
Why: For the girls romanticizing their creative era — struggling, dreaming, falling in love with art and people who don’t text back. It makes being broke feel poetic (temporarily). Shop here.
4. Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
Why: If emotional detachment were a personality trait. Short, sharp, devastating — perfect for girls who love Los Angeles, existential dread, and a good stare into the void. Shop here.
5. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Why: For when life gets real and you realize being “strong” is actually just continuing to show up. Not light reading, but essential — especially for learning how to sit with grief instead of glamorizing it. Shop here.
Reading won’t fix your life, but it will give you better language for it.
